Posted on 08/18/2009 12:54:27 PM PDT by Signalman
Try this on for size: Palinism. What is it? It is an updated version of McCarthyism, which takes it name from the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin liar, demagogue and drunk, and means, according to Wikipedia, "reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries." As far as we know, Sarah Palin is not a drunk.
But she certainly shares McCarthy's other attributes -- and this one as well: the ability to drive the debate. In McCarthy's day, it was anti-communism coupled with national security, and it hardly mattered that he frequently did not have his facts straight. He got huge amounts of attention anyway.
With Palin, the subject is health care, which in many ways is the Red Menace of our day and lends itself to a kind of political pornography. For sheer disregard of the facts, her statement about President Obama's "death panel" has to rank with McCarthy's announcement that "I have here in my hand a list of 205" (or 57 or 72 or whatever) names of communists in the State Department. They were both false -- McCarthy's by commission, Palin's probably by omission. She rarely knows her facts.
What was most depressing about McCarthy's career was not just the excesses of the man himself, but the refusal of others -- mainly his fellow Republicans -- to either rein him in or defend his victims. Now we are seeing something similar with Palin. Say what you will about any of the health care proposals, not one of them suggests a "death panel" empowered to withhold medical services from the aged or the disabled. To suggest that one exists is reprehensible. To state it outright is either boldly demagogic or just plain loopy.
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
Sorry, here’s the correct URL:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/08/18/palins_ism_factor_97932.html
Link Correction Needed on Ailse 2318911.
Thank You.
No offense but this has to be at least the third time in the last few hours this has been posted.
Palin holds no political office.
Ten or twelve more times for this commie propaganda article should just about make it believable. [not]
Also already posted as Washington Post article with the same text
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2318801/posts
Palin’s Red Menace (Is Palinism the new McCarthyism?)
Washington comPost ^ | 8/18/2009 | Richard Cohen
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